Walk with me?

Well, hello there!

I hope this New Year is finding you well!  As I sit here and watch the snow fall I thought I'd update you on our lives so far this year!  The 3rd found Tiana and I back in school.  Can we say "Hit the ground running?!"  I swear the amount of reading this quarter is double last quarter!  So that was the first Tuesday of the year.  That Friday evening we picked up this year's exchange students from Australia.  First stop on that "cold" night (to them anyway!) was Dick's Hamburgers and Starbucks.  Saturday we spent the day downtown and then celebrated Stacey's 15th birthday at Buca di Beppo.  We invited her best friend Stacey and Stacey's host-sister and Tiana's best friend Kaylin over for a surprise birthday cake. The next day was meeting and for lunch we had Thanksgiving dinner. After the Gospel meeting we were invited to Gent and Elaine's for dinner and games.  That was fun and Alice and Stacey got to meet some of the local kids.  The school week finds the girls on tour while Tiana's at school.  They experienced snow for the first time ever when they went skiing. At the end of the week we headed to Seaside, OR.  Before we left it started to snow.  We weren't sure what the roads or weekend would bring, but after we got out of downtown Seattle the weather cleared completely.  The next day we spent some of the time in Seaside shopping and being lazy and then we took a side trip to Cannon Beach.  It was windy and cold and I LOVED IT!!!  That night it got super exciting because it started to snow -- ON THE BEACH!!! WOOHOO!!!  The ride home from Seaside was a white knuckle drive over the hill and into Washington.  It was very snowy, very slick and snowing fairly heavy.  After we got beyond that, though, the roads were clear.  We did hit some snow at times, but it wasn't sticking.  We got home in just over 4½ hours and the drive usually takes about 3 hours 50 minutes!  Not too bad!  Once we got home the girls had a bit more play time in the snow and then this morning before dawn we had to say good-bye!  Feel free to look at all of the photo albums.  I will warn you that some of them have lots of "boring" scenery shots that look identical!  I was either playing with camera settings or trying to catch waves crashing on the rocks!  Sorry about those!  Or, I was attempting to miss the wiper as it was working to keep the windshield dry!  Wherever you are -- stay warm!

A good way to begin the new year

This ran in Dear Abby the other day and I think it's just a good way to start our thinking in the new year.  According to the column this is attributed to James Patrick Kinney.  So, happy reading and A  HAPPY, WARM NEW YEAR!

The Cold Within
Six human trapped in
happenstance
In dark and bitter cold,
Each one possessed a stick
of wood,
Or so the story's told.

Their dying fire in need of
logs
The first woman held hers
back,
For of the faces around the
fire,
She noticed one was black.

The next man looking
across the way
Saw not one of his church,
And couldn't bring himself
to give
The fire his stick of birch.

The third one sat in tattered
clothes
He gave his coat a hitch,
Why should his log be put
to use,
To warm the idle rich?

The rich man just sat back
and thought
Of the wealth he had in
store,
And how to keep what he
had earned,
From the lazy, shiftless poor.

The black man's face
bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from sight,
For all he saw in his stick of
wood
Was a chance to spite the
white.

The last man of this forlorn
group
Did naught except for gain,
Giving only to those who
gave,
Was how he played the game.

The logs held tight in death's
still hands
Was proof of human sin,
They didn't die from the
cold without,
They died from the cold
within.

A recipe for you

I had forgotten about this recipe and thought of it again when I bought some "authentic" enchilada sauce last night.  The can of sauce was so big I figured this recipe would be good to double and share with some friends who just had twins!  Second time I've made this recipe for people who've had twins...Hm...Hm...Hm...!!! :)

Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas
3 c. chopped cooked chicken ( 3 large chicken breasts or about one rotisserie chicken)
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (10 oz.) diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 can (8¾ oz.) no-salt-added corn, drained and rinsed
1 package (8 oz.) reduced-fat shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
8 whole wheat tortillas (8")  (I always use white, although corn works, but then just layer this and make it a casserole!)
2 (10 oz.) cans enchilada sauce

Combine first four ingredients and 1½ c. cheese in a large bowl.  Spoon filling down center of tortillas, roll up and place seam-side down in a greased 9X13" pan.  Pour sauce evenly over enchiladas, sprinkle with  remaining cheese and bake, covered with foil, at 350º for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes, uncovered, or until bubbly.

The Bakery is about to close...

My Christmas baking is finished except for some breads.  They are not a part of my presents, though, so the official Christmas baking can be declared done!  This year I made a bunch of new things for me.  Plenty of stand-by's and then some new standards!  So let's see, what did I make:

1. Double-chocolate-peppermint biscotti
2. Cocoa-coffee crinkles (two thumbs up!)
3. My Big Fat Greek Baklava Bars (two thumb up!)
4. Pistachio Cream Cheese Sugar cookies
5. Sugar cookies
6. Gingerbread
7. Molasses cookies
8. Liebesgrübchen
9. Pfeffernüsse
10. Swedish Heirloom cookies (Russian teacakes/Kourabiethes/Mexican wedding cakes)
11. Cream cheese spritz 
12. Almond-bark covered pretzels
13. Meringues with lemon pie filling (for my gluten free friends!)

Let's see...I think that's it!  And today I have some poteca (walnut filled bread) and cinnamon bread in the works as well as a really hearty loaf to go with soups!  Laundry beckons so, please, as you prepare for the holidays, ENJOY!!  Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year!

wOOhOO!

I got my holiday baking started!  First off, a thank you to my new store for their incredibly warm welcome in the form of cinnamon rolls.  I also made cocoa-coffee crinkles.  My are they coffee-y!!  LOVE it!  I also made cheddar broccoli soup for dinner and we had ham and potatoes with a salad for lunch.  I also wrote my German holiday letter and finished sealing all of my envelopes for the addresses I have available right now.  I'm missing 3, maybe 4 addresses!  Tomorrow I need to do some sewing and get to the post office.  I will probably pick up my exam at school, too.  I hope to be able to meet up with a friend, too!  I love having time!

I am in love...

This is ALL I want for Christmas!!  Forget my two-front teeth!!!
http://www.scion.com/#/iQ-images-videos/colors/black-currant
I'm sorry I can't post a picture straight here, you'll have to follow the link!

Happy Shopping Honey!! ☺  I am SOO test-driving one of these babies!